Rainbow Wahine clobber Bulldogs
POSTED: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Efficient. Impressively efficient.
Big SixThe Rainbow Wahine are No. 6 in the latest AVCA poll:
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There is no other way to describe Hawaii's performance during the first 40 minutes of last night's volleyball match in Fresno, Calif.
The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine committed no hitting errors in their first 42 attempts against Fresno State en route to a 25-9, 25-16, 25-17, 78-minute victory at the Save Mart Center. Hawaii finished with eight errors, hitting .405, to clinch at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title.
The Wahine improved to 22-3 with their ninth straight victory, and finished the regular season at 15-1. Should New Mexico State (19-7, 13-1) win its last two matches this week, the Aggies would share the crown for the first time in their four seasons of membership.
New Mexico State would also earn the top seed in next week's WAC tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center by virtue of a tiebreaker. Hawaii would be seeded second.
“;We'll see how it plays out,”; Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “;We've done all we can do up to now.
“;It was a good way to end the road trip. We had no errors for almost two full games. We did play pretty efficiently.”;
The Wahine hit an unreal .667 in Set 1, with 14 kills and no errors in 21 swings. Hawaii didn't commit an error until late in Set 2 with a 20-8 lead.
Setter Dani Mafua and reserve junior middle Cat Fowler, who had just entered the match, didn't connect on a quick set for the Wahine's first error. The second came seconds later when senior hitter Jamie Houston hit long, allowing the Bulldogs (6-17, 3-11) to close to 20-10.
Redshirt freshman hitter Stephanie Ferrell put down eight of her match-high 11 kills to help Hawaii to a 23-13 lead in Set 3. Fresno State refused to go quietly, scoring four straight, to pull to 23-17 and force Shoji to call a timeout.
Ferrell answered with her 11th kill and Bulldogs freshman Baylee Platt hit wide to end it. Hawaii upped its record to 44-0 against Fresno State.
“;Ferrell's been coming on strong and she gives us instant offense,”; Shoji said. “;Everything was real smooth tonight, especially considering it was the third game of a long trip.
“;We had some concerns about that, but the players focused and played well.”;
Hawaii's starting middles Amber Kaufman and Nickie Thomas combined for 11 kills with no errors on 16 attempts. Kaufman was also in on three of the Wahine's four blocks. Houston finished with nine kills and freshman Kanani Danielson six.
WAC standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | Overall | |
| x-Hawaii | 15 | 1 | .938 | - | 22-3 |
| New Mexico St. | 13 | 1 | .928 | 1 | 19-7 |
| Idaho | 9 | 5 | .643 | 5 | 16-7 |
| Utah State | 8 | 6 | .571 | 6 | 10-15 |
| Nevada | 6 | 8 | .428 | 8 | 11-13 |
| San Jose St. | 6 | 8 | .428 | 8 | 11-15 |
| Boise St. | 4 | 10 | .286 | 10 | 8-17 |
| Fresno St. | 3 | 11 | .214 | 11 | 6-17 |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 14 | .000 | 14 | 4-21 |
x-clinched share of WAC title
Hawaii def. Fresno State
25-9, 25-16, 25-17
Rainbow Wahine (22-3, 15-1 WAC)
| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts | |
| Kaufman | 3 | 6 | 0 | 8 | .750 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8.5 |
| Danielson | 3 | 6 | 0 | 11 | .545 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Houston | 3 | 9 | 2 | 16 | .438 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10.5 |
| Thomas | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 | .625 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Mafua | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | .500 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Ferrell | 2 | 11 | 3 | 22 | .364 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 |
| Hittle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keefe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ka'aihue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fowler | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Totals | 3 | 42 | 8 | 84 | .405 | 42 | 1 | 6 | 47.0 |
Bulldogs (6-17, 3-11 WAC)
| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts | ||
| Munson | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | |
| Leonardo | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 | .571 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| Platt | 3 | 10 | 7 | 31 | .097 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10.5 | |
| Gera | 3 | 5 | 5 | 21 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | |
| Berger | 3 | 4 | 1 | 16 | .188 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | |
| Van Grouw | 3 | 1 | 5 | 13 | -.308 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | |
| Mason | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Moss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Oglesby | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gera | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atwal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -.333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 3 | 53 | 16 | 103 | .359 | 54 | 1 | 6 | 26.0 |
Key - g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces)
Aces - Hawaii (5): Mafua 3, Kaufman, Cubi-Otineru. Fresno State: none. Assists - Hawaii (41): Mafua 30, Brandt 4, Thomas 4, Houston, Cubi-Otineru, Ka'aihue. Fresno State (23): Munson 20, Van Grouw, Gera, Atwal. T -1:18. Officials - Verna Klubnikin, Bob McCarthy. A - 1,317.
